Monday, February 15, 2010

Defiance in Uganda

On Sunday, Police moved to halt a planned demonstration in support of the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill saying that the government is still sorting 'issues out' as pro-gay activists under the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kampala secretly met to condemn the same bill.

Pastor martin Ssempa, one of the organisers of the demonstration confirmed that the Inspector of Police Major General Kale kayihura had contacted them and proposed a meeting on Tuesday before the Wednesday demo.

“It is true Gen. Kayihura sent us a text message that he hasn’t cleared the demonstration. He said we should meet him on Tuesday to forge a way forward,” Pastor Ssempa said.

Gen. Kayihura confirmed that he hasn’t cleared the demonstration and said, “We asked them to postpone the demonstration because government has some issues to sort out and they agreed,”.

The best way to win a war is not to start one. From that Chinese war philosopher, that is the one I think said or wrote something like that.

And, I see it in Uganda.

We kuchus have been demonised. They (as in most Ugandans) tell lies about us. They want to enact a law that would legalize genocide. All in the name of country, religion, culture. And something that they call the ‘traditional family’

But, let us not go there.

Last night was a blast. I had never seen so many kuchus gathered in one place, celebrating something as simple as the day of love. But, that happened yesterday.

Me being an infidel and non believer, I didn’t go to the JBK hotel thing. But, of course I was there in spirit.

PS; the Inspector General of Police promises to arrest the people who came to organise.

Pro-gay meeting

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Kampala, one of the few religious organizations in Uganda that is supporting the gay community held a conference on Sunday to 'highlight the need for an end to discriminatory treatment of the gay population in uganda.

According their website, Reverend Marlin Lavanhar, President of Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry and senior minister at All Souls Unitarian Church, arrived in Uganda on Thursday last week to launch a campaign against the Bill.

One of the organizers Bill Sherman declined to disclose the details of the meeting citing security reasons.

“Under most circumstances I would be happy to give you this contact information. But with security concerns so high, I am reluctant to do so,” Mr Sherman told Daily Monitor by e-mail.

However, Gen. Kayihura said he was not aware of the meeting and vowed to arrest them. “I am not aware of this meeting. But if we get them, we shall arrest them,” he said.

But, I was there for the ‘after-party’ event, when most of us gathered in a bar, and drunk and laughed and danced and met others that we never knew existed in this world.

I couldn’t imagine that happening in a Uganda where a gay genocidal bill has been introduced. Paul Kagaba implies that that is the ‘recruiting’ that he has been talking about. That has all Ugandans in a miff, wanting to kill us.

But, since most, if not all of us were and are gay, I beg to differ with his assessment of the same. We wouldn’t recruit homos, would we? Afterall, they are already homos.

It was something much less serious than my being together with my love for nine years. Hey, I do have to play myself up.

But, what happened?

Two radio stations took it up. An action plan was made. ‘Operation Gays Out’, led by a Bishop, and a Sheihk. Respected religious leaders.

On Thursday, last week, the couple that was the source of the joke was forced to flee.

On Friday, the farce of targeting a research organisation, KEMRI, happened. Led by the Bishop and Sheick.

And, then the rampage through the streets. Arresting people who are suspected of being gay. The supposed relocation of DOCTORS to find out whether they are gay. People are stopped on the road, in taxis, and beaten up, and arrested.

And, today is the court case, for the five who were arrested inside the KEMRI offices, and accused of being gay, and handed over to the police.

No. I am not kidding you.

And, through it all, fm radio stations reving up the crowds. Think Rwanda, and the calls to go and kill yourself some Cockroaches. That resulted into the Rwandese Genocide. And, priests and other churchmen were involved.

Wonder of wonders, at that time, it is the Mosque and moslems who were the succour. Not Christ and the church. But mosque and moslems. Of course Lively implies that we homos were involved, but, that is his right to believe. That we did cause the Rwandese Genocide.

If the progrom translates into that, in Kenya, there will be many, and many Christians, coming out to say we gays ‘brought it upon ourselves’

But, that will not put me down. I know, and will understand, and believe that people will always look for a way, a means for their hate of me and what I am to be justified. So help them gods.

I will not offer the neck for them to split.

Sorry, I am not a Christian. But, I will find a way to fight them. With intelligence, or without. With knowledge, with my teeth and nails, and with all of my might.

I cant believe that the Honourable Nsaba-Buturo can write an article without mentioning, and condemning homosexuals. But, he did. And here is the article. Read it to know the man behind the mask, Nsaba-Buturo. Read it to understand the fantastical thinking, the ‘Uganda is Holy’ kind of thinking that characterises the anti-gay thinking in Uganda.

I didn’t know Winston Churchill was a Prophet of the Christian God. But, Buturo does believe so. The ‘Pearl of Africa’ name was not just an empty assessment.

And, here is another MP, (Buturo is also an MP), here is another who has no qualms and apologies for Uganda being anti-gay. The kind of dogmatic misinformation, the sheer will to take the facts and interprete them in a certain way, to a certain viewpoint is something that I always fail to do.

I don’t want to lie to myself.

Maybe because I am gay.

But, I fail to understand the sheer desire and will to remain blind, deaf, and unthinking about what my world offers me to see and read.

Defiance. That is one thing that will help us carry on with our struggle. Because we are desperate. And, we have nothing else in the face of the desire by our people to kill and imprison and maim us, simply because we are different.

They articulate that anger and shame of us. If we fail to understand that they are serious, we will die, because of the same self deception that I am decrying.

2 comments:

Right, I agree, self-deception is at the heart of this spiritual, emotional illness...mostly that of fear and hatedriven people but sometimes even our own denial and pretend corrupts reality and make US dangerously vulnerable...insanity blown way out of control...coachroaches all look alike...heterosexual or homosexual, self-deception, defiance, exploitation, abuse, power-grabs then murder...it´s all the same, dead is dead, demonized is demonized and most of these arrogant bigots have initiated their pogroms and hate campaigns at Church and other religious institutions. Very scary when loving Christians, like all the selfrighteous ones THINK THEY ARE, are simply dangerous street thugs in mitres and brocaded hats.